Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blazing Sun
by Shadowonwater
Summary: The drought had made life hard on the Pokemon who lived in this world and mysterious and dangerous areas called mystery dungeons have been appearing in more and more places. Ivy, a Snivy, went about her life as safely as possible until one day she meets a very peculiar Eevee who will turn her life upside down and maybe even save the world along the way.
1. The Name's Secret

The sun shines blindingly bright down on a vast hilly area. The hills vary greatly in size from as large as a mountain to the size of a Golurk. Next to one of the more medium sized hills lay a small town and a road that stretched far to the north and south. The land was rocky and drought ridden. The Pokemon of that town did the best they could to survive on what the land had to offer but it was hard, especially during the hot summer months. Many would constantly think back to the days before the great drought, when the land was lush and green and water supply plentiful.

Few of the townsfolk left though, even if they wanted to. The journey was hard and treacherous to just make it to another _town_. What was the point in making such a journey that could easily kill you when the next town over was hardly doing any better than where you came from? Often times it would be in a worse condition. Indeed, there seemed to be no escape from the drought because _everywhere_ was in drought.

The sun blazed down raining what felt like billions upon billions of tiny bright hot daggers on the citizens of the land as they went about their day, trying to keep as cool as possible whilst still getting their work done. Today was slightly better than normal due to a cool breeze that wafted through the normally still air. On the hill bordering the town climbed a lone Snivy who was doing her weekly task of forging for edible plants, she too, was grateful for the pleasant breeze.

So when the breeze suddenly stopped, as if disappearing out of existence, she took pause. All of the town had took pause. The moment was a small one, hardly 4 seconds, but in those 4 seconds the town felt a slight moment of surprise than disappointment at what seemed to be the loss of their wind for who knows how long. That moment didn't get to last long for very long, for soon the wind picked up again. The wind picked up _fast_. The wind picked up _hard_. The wind rushed in a swirling torrent, concentrating directly above the top of the mountain that Snivy was climbing.

The wind's mighty force threatened to drag citizens of the the small town away as they tried to desperately hang on to whatever was closest to them. The Snivy had nothing to latch on to as the gust carried her. She fumbled on the ground, seeking a grip. The earth on the hill was, however, too compact and her limbs just slid on the surface. She felt herself near the cliff edge. She closed her eyes awaiting an early painful death. She knew as soon as she was pushed off she would fall, not off a clear drop in the rock face, but would tumble down a steep crumbly stairway of rocks. A fall like that would draw out her death rather than dying instantly from a huge fall.

She felt pain erupt at her side, but not because she fell, but because the wind carried her straight into a rock. She latched on for dear life. The Snivy marveled at her incredible luck, briefly wondering if this was some sort of miracle or gift from a god. Her eyes were closed and she could feel tears running down her cheeks. Sure she was hurt, but she was alive. She was _alive_! Nothing could matter more to her at the moment.

The wind died down enough for her to feel safe letting go of the rock. The wind was still stronger than it had been previously but nothing like the monster it was before. Still, Snivy kept close to the rock. She looked up and saw that the clouds too had taken the same swirl shape as the wind had, almost forming what looked like a tunnel made out of clouds. The clouds... the clouds were _glowing_...? No... there was something in the middle of the clouds glowing. There was a bright big flash from the source of light followed by what sounded like a whip cracking as the Snivy tried to shield her eyes.

She saw a small figure fall from where the light source had once been. Too small and faraway to identify. The mysterious figure fell straight down the middle of the cloud swirl. There was a loud thump as the figure hit the earth on the top of the mountain. The Snivy winced, she doubted that anything could be alive after a fall like that unless they were maybe a flying type or an otherwise exceptionally durable Pokemon. Still, she knew she should check. So she reluctantly leaved the side of the rock to investigate.

Her side still hurt badly from her run in with the rock. She lightly layed her hand on her side and started to carefully climb to the top. She had, unfortunately, lost the basket that she kept the food she forged in the gust. At least, however, it made the climbing easier which she very much needed as she was nursing the injury on her side. As she made it to the top she had a clear view on what, or rather _who_ , had fallen out of the sky.

In the middle of the top was a small shallow crater. Snivy leaned in and cautiously viewed over the side. There in the middle of the crater was a small brown normal type, a Pokemon who couldn't have possibly have survived a fall like that, an Eevee. And yet, even though the creature should have been far from alive, the Snivy watched in shocked fascination as they slowly got up, seemingly dazed, but not otherwise unharmed.

There was a slight yellow glow around the Eevee that was slowly dissipating that had matched the color of the earlier glow. The Eevee was slowly looking from side to side, presumably taking in their surroundings before the creatures large, strangely blue eyes caught sight of the Snivy starring down at them. The eyes widened before the Eevee tried to take a step forward before losing their balance and stumbling. The Eevee got up again and shock out their fur, their eyes noticeably getting sharper. The Eevee looked up again straight into the Snivy's eyes. This moment for the Snivy felt like time was going in slow motion as she starred at the strangely captivating blue eyes of the Eevee. This moment felt like it was precious, important-

"Hey you got any food? I'm hungry!"

"What?!"

The moment was broken.

"I said: do you have any food?" The Eevee gave a toothy grin, looking up at the shocked Snivy.

"I heard you, but out of all the things you could say, you ask me if I have food?!"

"Well _yeah_ , I'm hungry!" The Eevee tilted their head slightly, still staring at the Snivy as her agape mouth turned into a frown. "What, do you want me to say something else?"

"YOU FELL OUT OF THE SKY!"

"I did?"

"YES!"

"Huh." The Eevee turned their head to look at their leg as they lifted it slightly off the ground. "That would explain why I feel so sore. Also, the crater. What do you want me to say about falling out of the sky?" The Eevee turned their head back to the Snivy who, by this point, was starting to grow livid.

"WHY. DID. YOU. FALL. OUT. OF. THE SKY!"

"I don't know. Can I have food now?" The look the Eevee gave the Snivy would have been considered the move Baby Doll Eyes if this Eevee actually knew the move.

The Snivy sighed and scrunched the bridge of her nose. She had come to realize that this conversation was a lost cause, until the Eevee was fed, at least. She removed her hand from her nose and looked down at the Eevee "Okay, but _at least_ tell me your name first, I'm Ivy." The Snivy reached her hand down to the Eevee, expecting a hand shake. The Eevee instead gave her a high five.

"My name's secret."

Ivy was feeling very confused and slightly frustrated. She wasn't sure if that was a high five or if the Eevee had slapped her hand away. She also wasn't sure if the Eevee was actually named _Secret_ of all things or if they were just unwilling to give their actual name. There were Pokemon with weirder names out there and the Eevee did all this with a smile so Ivy decided to go with the former.

"Well Secret-"

"My name's not Secret."

So it was the ladder then...? "If you're not Secret and you won't tell me your real name, you have to give me _something_ to call you by." The Eevee seemed to contemplate this, their eyes darting to the side and their tongue tip sticking out slightly. The Eevee seemed to be in such deep concentration that Ivy was tempted to say something akin to 'Don't hurt yourself' but decided she didn't know the Eevee well enough to risk hurting their feelings by teasing.

"You know what? You can call me Secret after all."

"Well Secret, if you help me back to my home, I'll give you something."

"All right, Grub time!"

And so, Ivy and Secret made their way down the mountain, Secret helping to support Ivy with her injury and Ivy putting up with Secret's motormouth. Near the foot of the mountain they found the basket that Ivy had been using earlier to collect food and lost; It was, unfortunately, empty but all the same Ivy picked it up and layed it over the shoulder of her uninjured side. Ivy still wasn't sure what to make of this newcomer, falling through the sky, strangely focused on food, and with a weird and confusing name to go by, Ivy hoped that this couldn't get any stranger but she knew it probably would.

* * *

Time Skip

* * *

After the short trek from the mountain, the pair had arrived at Ivy's home. It was a small cottage on the outskirts of the town. Ivy lamented the lack of vegetation and the emptiness of her mailbox. She used to get letters from her parents after she had moved out but after the drought there were few Pokemon who were willing to deliver messages and even then it was for a hefty fee. Ivy opened the door for Secret and then followed them in.

The inside of Ivy's home wasn't much to look at; there was a small table with seating for four, shelves carved into the wall, and a small window and a large bed of hay at the end. The shelves didn't have as much provisions as Ivy would have liked. Secret's eyes were immediately drawn to those shelves and their big fluffy tail wagged. Ivy walked over and grabbed two apples and laid them onto the table and sat down, indicating with her hand for Secret to join.

"Can you tell me more about what you're doing here?" Ivy asked as Secret sat down down across from her.

"Not really."

"And why not?"

"I can't remember anything."

T _hey can't remember anything? Is that why Secret couldn't tell me their real name? This is going to cause a lot of problems... I can't bring them back to their home if they doesn't even know where it is but I can't keep them here. I don't have enough food for two._ While Ivy was thinking, Secret took the opportunity to dig in to the apple and had finished surprisingly quickly. They then started to reach for the other apple. Ivy snapped back to attention and smacked the Eevee's paw away. "This food is for _both_ of us and you already ate your portion." Ivy then started to eat her own apple to prevent any more attempts from Secret.

* * *

Secret stared at Ivy while she was eating. Secret kept starring. Secret was getting really bored. They drummed their paws on the table and started moving their head to look all around the room but there wasn't really anything to look at but the pantry. _Looking at that will make me feel more hungry._ Secret was used to having larger meals, and a single apple seemed quite meager. They turned their head back to see Ivy's progress. Only about half way through... _Ugh, how can someone eat so slow!_

To distract their self they started to think of the future. They didn't know where to go, they didn't know what to do, they didn't even know what was going on with the world. _Judging by what I saw, things don't look too good. I'd like to stay here but- no. No I should probably go someplace else and stay there! Yeah._ Secret wasn't sure how to get anywhere though, they felt like they were trapped. Like there was no where they could go. _Don't start thinking like this... there must be somewhere that's safe! I might need some help though..._

* * *

"Ivy, where is here? And how far is somewhere else?" Ivy almost choked, having been caught off guard. She finished chewing and put what was left down.

"Go someplace else! that's extremely dangerous! Only the most prepared and hardy can safely make it to the next town!"

"So how do I get prepared?"

"Are you not following me? You'd get killed out there!"

"Aw, does that mean you care about me~?" Secret had her elbows on the table holding her head in her paws with a wide joking grin.

"I care about you enough that I don't want you to be killed." Ivy wasn't expecting such a question from the Eevee but now that she thought about it she _did_ care, or at least she liked the novelty of this new comer. "You know... you can stay with me if you don't have anyplace to go. I could help you try to find a job around town or you can join me in scavenging. You don't have to leave."

"So you _do_ care about me! But I think you and I both know that there isn't enough food in this place just for scavenging. Besides-" Secret waved her paw in a dismissing motion "I fell from the sky, I think I can survive a walk in the desert."

"It isn't just 'a walk in the desert'." Ivy made the quoting motion with her fingers and rolled her eyes. "There are many powerful Pokemon bandits who hang out on the road just waiting for someone like you to prey on!"

"Oh, so that's what the problem is? Other Pokemon? I guess I'll just have to get strong then!" Secret shot her paws into the air. "You still haven't told me the name of the town yet, though."

Ivy opened her mouth to answer but snapped it shut when there was a loud scream from outside. "My baby! has anyone seen my baby!"

Ivy quickly got up and ran for the door, deciding to ignore the fact that Secret had scooped up and was eating what was left of her apple in light of finding out what was going on outside and what she could do to help. She turned her head around and looked over her shoulder as she dashed out the door to find the commotion and saw that Secret was following her.

"Welcome to Moon Crest, Secret!"


	2. Case of the Missing Child

_Moon Crest! What a pretty name!_ Secret thought as they dashed after Ivy. _Maybe I should have gone with a different name other than Secret? I hope I don't get bored of this name, after all that's what I'm being called from now on. I guess I still have time to try to change it but... nah!_ Secret decided that something like a name wasn't worth too much worrying about.

"Can anyone help me! _Please_ , my baby is missing! Has anyone seen my baby!" A female voice frantically shouted. _But someone's baby being missing is kind of worrying..._ Secret wasn't exactly a fan of babies but that didn't mean they wanted one to be hurt. _I don't mind looking around to try to find the baby. I just hope I don't have to be the one to carry it..._

Up ahead, past Ivy, Secret could see the source of the calls. The mother was a Pokemon that looked like a a blue ball with three white puffs connected to it, a Jumpluff. _So if it's the baby of a Jumpluff we're looking for, we're looking for a Hoppip? Jeez, was it carried away by a wind or something? Strange, because the air is so still. It's probably something else then._

"Juliet! Who's missing? Julie or Julia?" Ivy asked the distressed mother

"Oh, Ivy! It's Julia! Have you seen her anywhere!?" _If she had seen Julia, wouldn't she have said so?_ Secret bit back saying that remark out loud, deciding that it wasn't really a good time for that. _And Jeez, Juliet, Julie and Julia? Quite a set of names they got there!_

"What happened? Where did you last see her?" Ivy asked

"We had gone outside to give their father a surprise lunch visit when that crazy wind picked up! Poor Julia was blown away!" Juliet started to sob "If we can't find her I won't know what to do with myself! My family are the light or my life!" Secret was a little surprised to hear that a crazy wind had blown up but was even more confused when after Juliet had mentioned the wind Ivy turned their head to look back at them, seemingly gauging their reaction. _What is she expecting out of me? I guess my theory was correct, but where could this Julia have blown off to?_

"We'll help you look for her." Secret said, putting on their friendliest smile.

"Oh, thank you! Who are you?"

 _I guess it's now or never with the name changing thing._ "You can call me Secret!"

Ivy noticed no reaction from Secret when Juliet mentioned the crazy wind. _Does she not know... ? I should probably tell her about that later._ "Yes, Juliet, we'll look for them. Did you see what direction they got blown in?"

"Yes, she was blown in the direction you came from. I've been trying to follow it myself but with no wind I can't move very fast..."

"Okay, stay calm. We'll try to get her. If we see anybody we'll ask them for help too and in the meantime you can also try to get more help yourself."

"Oh, Ivy, thank you! You're a Arc send!"

"Come on Secret." Ivy started to run back the way they came, hearing Secret feet thumping as they followed after her. They past the house and kept going looking for any pink in the distance. Eventually they came up to a small cave in the cliff face. There, caught in a narrow gap in the rock on the side of the cave entrance, was what looked like a piece of leaf. _Having that ripped off has got to hurt! I hope she's okay. She's probably inside though... she might even be dead already..._ In the corner of her eye she saw Secret start to walk into the cave entrance.

" **STOP**!" Ivy shouted. Secret froze and just for a moment it looked like some of their fur had stood on end before settling back down. "That's a mystery dungeon!"

Secret turned their head and looked quizzically at Ivy. "A what?"

"A mystery dungeon. Don't you know what that is?" Secret silently shook their head no. _Right. She doesn't remember anything._ "A mystery dungeon is a space that randomly changes whenever someone goes in and is filled with monster illusions." Judging by Secret's face, they didn't understand what the last ha meant. "Monster illusions look like Pokemon, feel like Pokemon, and fight like Pokemon but they aren't real. They're created by the dungeons and will disappear when defeated."

Secret's face lit up. "That is _so_ cool! How does it work?"

"We don't know, that's why they're called mystery dungeons, because they're a mystery. They can also be extremely dangerous, not just because of the Monster illusions but also because gangs of real Pokemon will make dungeons they're bases and they don't like Pokemon wondering in."

"And why would they do that?"

"To keep Pokemon from their stuff and also to keep dungeon treasure to themselves. And before you ask, dungeon treasure are items that seemingly appear out of nowhere in dungeon."

"Dungeon treasure... I like the sound of that! Let's go get some!"

"No! Dungeon's are practically death traps!"

"But what about Julia? Isn't she in there?"

"Probably..."

"If it's suppose to be dangerous for us, Julia will probably have even more trouble in there."

"Yes, yes she would."

"Ivy? We should try to get her."

"Ivy?"

"If you don't want to go in that's fine, but I am. I can't leave without trying. I can't go back to that mother and tell her that I wouldn't even _try_ to save her child just because they ended up in some cave." With that Secret started to walk in.

Ivy didn't have the heart to tell Secret that Juliet would understand.

But still...

"Hold on Secret, I'm coming with you!"

They had a point.


	3. Enter The Dungeon

The walls of the dungeon were made of sandstone and were littered with bio-luminescent moss. The faint glow of the moss lit up the otherwise dark dungeon. The floor was cold and hard. While nothing had happened yet, Ivy was already growing antsy to get out of one of the places she had heard was extremely dangerous for so long. Secret had already started to walk ahead not seeming to be thinking of the dangers or at least not heading them. With nothing better to do, besides immediately ducking out of the cave, Ivy followed their lead, staying close behind. After not much walking the two of them soon made it to a fork in the road with no signs as to which direction Julia had went.

"So, do you think we should split up?" Secret asked turning to look at Ivy.

"No, we should stick together. Safety in numbers after all."

"Well okay... but it might take longer." With that Secret started to walk towards the right. Ivy felt a bit annoyed at not being asked her opinion about what direction to go in but didn't want to make a fuss about it and followed Secret in.

The hallway opened up into a large room with what looked like a set of stairs in the corner. There was also a Oran berry laying on the ground close to where Secret was, which they soon picked up.

"Hey, look at this Ivy!"

"That's an Oran berry, we should bring it with us in case we get hurt."

"So I take it that Oran berries heal then?"

"Yes, they do. Those stairs over there in the corner will lead us to the next floor of the dungeon." Secret than started to walk toward the stairs. "Hey! wait. We don't know where in this dungeon Julia is, for all we know she could be on this floor. We should stay and comb the area."

Secret groaned tipping their head back slightly. "Do we have to? I want to see what's at the end of this place."

"We shouldn't have to stay here longer than we have to, Secret. Remember, we are here for Julia."

"Right. Right. Julia... but if things go well here can we go back after we find her?"

Ivy immediately felt a pit of anxiety at the idea. Just because things went fine this time didn't mean they would go well again. Besides they had only just got here, it wasn't like they knew how this would go. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it Secret." _But by Arc I hope we don't._

* * *

Time Skip!

* * *

They continued to search the first floor of the dungeon. Finding two more Oran berries, a Pecha berry, and 70 Poke in the process, Ivy explaining the new items to secret. Strangely, though, no monster illusions. While Ivy didn't exactly want to run into any monster illusions, the lack of them was causing her to become nervous. She almost wanted to run into one so she could stop waiting but also to hopefully gauge just how powerful this particular dungeon was so she could know whether it was actually possible to stick around any longer and live.

The whole time Secret seemed to be kind of carefree and got very excited about finding loot. Ivy had no doubt that if things went well for them this time Secret would definitely come back for more. If that happened Ivy wondered if she would join Secret or not just to try to stop them from doing anything too reckless.

"Ivy, when will we be done with this floor?"

"We should be done soon, I don't think there's many more rooms we need to check."

"What if we get lost?"

"I've been drawing a map."

"A map? I don't see any."

"I've been drawing a map with my _brain_."

Secret was quiet for a second before saying "You know, I don't think a brain map is very reliable."

It wasn't, Ivy knew that. However, it wasn't like she had anything better. She didn't exactly bring anything like paper to draw a map or chalk to make markings on the wall. If they had more preparation she would have brought her bag and some paper and pencils but she didn't exactly have time to go back to her home and grab them. Without a bag the two were stuck trying to carry all their items with various degrees of successes. The coins found a home in Secret's mane of fur around their neck. The berries, on the other hand, were being carried by Ivy. _Good thing vine whip doesn't require free hands..._

Up ahead Ivy saw what should be the last room on the floor. They both walked in and looked around for signs of Julia. There was no pink Pokemon in there but that didn't mean there would be zero clues if she had been. In the corner of the room, Ivy spotted it, an Oran berry but with a single bite in it as if whoever had eaten didn't have time to finish it and just left it there. Monster illusions didn't eat but, of course, real Pokemon did.

Suddenly, it clicked in Ivy's mind why there wasn't any monster illusions. They had all been defeated recently and the dungeon didn't have a chance to regenerate more yet. Julia, Ivy knew, was too weak to fight this much. While Julia could have eaten that Oran berry, her being there didn't account for the lack of Monster illusions. Someone else was in the cave with them. _But who?_


	4. The First Fight

Secret watched as Ivy hurriedly picked something from off the floor. It was an Oran berry with a bite out of it. _Who would just leave their food like that? Honestly, what a waste._ During their walk into the cave Secret was a bit nervous but had tried to hide it from Ivy. It didn't help that Ivy seemed to be a ball of nerves the whole time. After awhile of walking around in the cave with nothing happening Secret's own nerves had melted away. _I don't know why Ivy seems so freaked out. She's totally over blowing this whole 'mystery dungeon' thing. If all dungeons are going to be like this it seems like I've got nothing to worry about. I got this one in the bag!_

"Secret, do you know what this means?" Ivy asked them, pointing to the Oran berry in her other hand.

"Yeah! Means someone 'round here is a litter bug!"

Ivy sighed "No, this means that someone else has been here."

"Oh... Julia?"

"I hope not."

"Why?"

"Because if Julia was the one to take a bite out of this that means she must have left in a hurry and I don't want to think about what might have happened to make her leave in a rush like that."

Secret felt a lump in their throat for a moment but took a deep breath. _We're fine, we're fine, we're fine. We will be fine._ "Well, since Julia is clearly not on this floor, let's move on to the next! Let's not waste time worrying!" Secret put on the most cheerful tone they could muster but it didn't clear the lingering sense of doubt. _Just a moment ago, I felt like I could do this but the first sign that something could go wrong and I want to freak. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this... Wait! No. This is nothing, we're just fine. Nothing has happened. It may not mean anything at all..._

"Let's not waste time indeed. Come on!" Ivy then started to bolt for the entrance of the room, leaving the bitten berry behind. Secret rushed after her, careful to not drop any of the money being kept in their mane. While Ivy was racing in front of them she yelled out without turning her head. "I want to try to get Julia as fast as possible! So, when we get to the next floor don't waste anytime in picking up items, okay!?"

"Okay..." Secret lied. If they saw something sweet, they were totally going to pick it up.

* * *

Time Skip!

* * *

The two had gone up and explored the next two floors of the cave. They had still not spotted any Monsters or any other Pokemon. There were a few times while Ivy had her back turned that Secret was able to pick up more Poke and stick it into her mane. _I really hope when we get out of here she doesn't ask to count all the money I grabbed._

It was when they made it to the 4th floor that something was different. At first it seemed the same as the last 3 but when entering the 4th room on that floor something was different. Secret saw a Pokemon. The Pokemon didn't look right though. It looked solid enough but... it was... see-through? Ivy quickly pulled them back and to the side so that the cave wall was blocking their view from the creature.

Secret poked her head back out a little to get a better view. It had the form of a Tangela and had it's back to them. "Ivy?" Secret whispered "Is that a Monster illusion?"

"Yes. It is."

"Let's fight it."

"Wh- wait!" It was too late though Secret was already heading towards the monster. Secret ran and hit the creature with a tackle before being knocked back by its vine whip. The Vine whip caused them to fly back half way through the room before hitting the ground with a thud. _Ow._

"Secret, you should have given me more warning before you were going to go and pull a stunt like that off!" Ivy jumped out from their hiding place and used a Vine whip of her own to hit the Monster. The creature narrowed its eyes at her and sent several vines in her direction, grabbing her. The Tangela then started to squeeze her using it's vines to use the move Constrict.

 _Jeez, that does not look comfy._ Secret thought. Secret quickly looked around the room and realized that the floor, while being hard, had lose dirt all over it. _I can use that._ They thought slyly. Secret scooped up a pawful of the dirt and throw it into the Tangela's face, using Sand Attack. The Tangela closed its eyes and took a step back, loosening its grip on Ivy. Ivy used the opportunity to smack the Tangela one finale time with a Vine whip. The Tangela then faded from existence along with the vines that were constricting Ivy.

"Are you okay?" Secret asked.

"I'm fine. Let's get back to searching."

"Ok."

The two started to head into the next room when they heard a call from it. "Wha in da world was that!" and in another voice, slower and slightly deeper than the last, "Don't know, Rick. Sounded like a fight." Ivy and Secret exchanged a glance and Ivy started to back out of the room. Ivy, however, didn't make it very far when two Pokemon appeared from the room where the talking was coming from. Unlike the Tangela they had just battled it was clear these two were actual Pokemon.

They were a Zorua and a Squirtle and by the look of their gaping mouths it was clear that they were both pretty surprised to see Secret and Ivy. A quizzical look crossed the Zorua's face and they said, "Who da fuck are you two?"

"Uh..."Secret said "Just passerby?"

"Dat ain't gonna cut it."


	5. Ting, Ting

"Okay. Well. I'm Secret and the Snivy over there is Ivy. You?

"Rick, but dat ain't important. Get da fuck out of here, or you'll regret it. Dis is our territory."

"Okay. We will. First, though, we need something. A little girl-"

" _Excuse_ me? I told you ta get the fuck out. Do it, _now_."

"A little girl wondered in here and we need to get her back to her mom!"

"A little girl! Rick, they need to find a little girl!" The unnamed Squirtle said with a worried look on his face

Rick lowered his voice and spoke out the side of his mouth to the Squirtle "Don. Shut up. You're an idiot. They're just lying ta get get in."

"But Rick-"

"Fine. How 'bout dis? Y'all leave and we look around for dis 'little girl' of your's and when we find dem we bring dem back. Sound good?"

 _Does this sound good...? It's clear he doesn't believe me. So he's not going to look is he?_ Secret thought _We could do as he says and hope he finds her by coincidence and brings her back, we could refuse and probably get into a fight, though, I'm not sure how well that will go,_ or _maybe we could_ pretend _to leave._ Secret felt a smile raise up on their lips. "Okay! That sounds great! So do we just wait at the cave entrance?"

"Wha- um... yeah. Sure. Wait dere." Rick looked surprised that Secret that agreed so easily to wait. "But first we'll have ta escort you dere."

 _Shit. I don't want that. We'd have to start all over._ "We can get there by ourselves, friend." Secret kept up their friendly smile.

"Oh, I'm sure you can, but just let me be the gentleman that I am and lead you two lovely ladies back." _Did he just call me a lady? Of course he did... I was hoping a name like 'Secret' would help me out here, but I guess not._ Due, to the dangerous situation they decided that complaining right now wouldn't be the smartest idea.

"Okay." _What do I do? What do I do? I can't talk to Ivy for help either, they'd overhear me! I hope Ivy already knows what I'm going for..._ Secret tried to let Rick and Don both take the lead but Rick insisted that they and Ivy should go first.

"Aft'a all, ladies go first! I just want ta be polite." _You want to keep an eye on us is what you want._ Secret thought sourly. Secret noticed that Ivy hadn't said anything. She seemed to be in thought, analyzing the situation.

"Your right, ladies first. What if we get **attacked** by one of those _scary_ monster illusions? One of you men should go in the front.. how about the handsome Squirtle man here?" Ivy, Secret could tell, was acting. _I don't know what you're up to, but I'll help._

Secret put on a slightly teary eyed look and tried to act as timid as possible by moving their ears down and grabbing their tail in their paws, making a point to fiddle with their fur and look down at their paws. "I... I hadn't thought of that. We got pretty ruffed up from that fight we just had. I never imagined that monster illusions would be so scary." Secret looked up and right into the Squirtle's eyes "Could you... maybe... keep an eye out for us?" They tightened their grip on their tail.

The Squirtle blushed and eyes widened before smiling wide and nodding vigorously. Don stepped in front of them and started leading the way. "Don't worry! We got this." While walking Secret made sure to keep up the timid body language by slouching slightly and keeping their tail down and close to their body. Secret wished that Ivy would try a bit harder to look timid but figured that it was better than trying to hard. They noticed that Rick hadn't said anything. He looked a little surprised, and a little sad.

"Hey... um." He muttered. "I, ugh, hope I didn't scare you back there."

"It's fine."

"It's just... ya know... you could be thieves, here to steal our stuff. We don't have much, but we have to look after what we _do_ have, an' each other's backs. We're extremely close and dis cave is like our home. Ta us, it can look like Pokemon wandering in are breaking into our house, here to steal our valuables and possibly even hurt... our family. I promise... we'll look for dat kid o' your's."

 _Well now I feel bad_ Secret thought. They were starting to feel unsure of trying to sneak in further, especially since Rick seemed to be starting to believe them about there being a kid inside the cave. _But just to be sure, we have to keep looking. I don't want to just rely on his word, even if it seems like he's being honest._

Ivy took this opportunity of Rick's distraction to use Vine whip. Ivy whipped out her vine toward Don and grabbed him. She turned her body, still holding on to Don, to look at Rick who looked stricken with shook, and throw Don at Rick like a Frisbee. Don crashed into the Zorua, throwing them both back all the way to the wall. Secret realized that Ivy had waited until they were in a long hallway to throw the duo back as far as possible. Ivy then used her vine to grab Secret and rush towards the stairs which were now within sight and climbed up.

 _Ting, ting_

Secret heard a small light sound and looked down. They only had a moment to see it, but a couple of coins had been dislodged from their mane and had fallen to the floor. It was then that they realized that Ivy no longer had the berries they had collected. Ivy had left them all the way back in the room with the Monster. They had been so busy fighting they hadn't noticed she dropped the food. _Well there goes all our tasty, tasty loot..._

"Secret," Ivy began "I'm afraid we probably won't have the liberty to stay and look around for Julia. We have to go fast as possible so they don't catch up. I'm going to have to put you down and when I do we'll both run until we can find the stairs. Okay?"

"Alright!" _I guess we'll see the end of this cave after all._

"But if we do see Julia, we'll be bringing her back. Even if we have to fight those two."

"Right." _Maybe we won't actually make it to the end then..._

So Ivy put Secret down and they both started to rush through the floors, once and awhile having to fight off monsters but avoiding them as best as possible to make it to the stairs without injury.

All the while

They were to distracted to notice

The soft

Periodic

 _Ting, ting_


	6. Monster House

Secret was feeling tired and kind of miserable. They had just made it to the 8th floor of the dungeon with Ivy and they were lagging behind a bit. They wanted to stop and take a break or at least try to find an Oran berry to recover the HP they had lost from the attacking monsters but didn't have the chance to bring it up with Ivy because of her rush ahead. _She's seems to be doing just fine. I don't want to drag her down. Plus we need to rescue Julia, so no slacking on my part!_ The fact that they still hadn't really eaten a decent meal didn't help. Almost as if on Que her stomach rumbled. _I really hope we find her and get her out of here sooon. I want to eaaat!_

Secret was about 5 feet behind Ivy and they could see the stairs to the next floor over Ivy's shoulder. _I_ really _hope this is the last one._ As Ivy crossed into the room, something... _strange_ happened. There was a bright flash of light and suddenly the room was filled with Monster illusions.

 _What! Whyyyyy. I want to go hooome... Just leave this stupid dungeon and go home!_ Secret was able to quickly catch up to Ivy as she backed out of the room and into the hallway. Ivy held a tense stance and glared at the Monster that was heading her way from the room using Leer to lower its defense. Luckily there was only one monster that was effectively getting to them as the hallway, being much narrower than the room, created a bottleneck which only a few Monsters were squeezing past. _I can't go home though. I don't have any magical red slippers to get me out of this. So, I guess I'll just have to try my best._ Secret touched Ivy on the shoulder, which startled her for a moment before she realized it was Secret. Secret used Helping Hand to raise Ivy's attack.

* * *

 _Time Skip!_

* * *

The two of them fought the Monsters one by one as the Monsters got close to them in the bottleneck. As the one who was mainly doing the fighting got tired they would switch to get a break while the other fought. Secret was fighting for the third time in this system but they didn't feel like they could keep it up for long even though they just got up from their break. _Let's face it, I'm running out of energy. I might even faint soon._ Ivy wasn't looking to good either.

Ivy had explained the first time Secret was taken their turn fighting that what they were seeing was called a Monster House. It was when many Monster illusions were spawned at once in a room when a Pokemon walked inside. They were known for being a hassle to deal with.

Secret had just taken down another Monster when they felt a funny feeling. They suddenly felt a lot better, and maybe a little stronger. _Did I just level up!_ Secret was pretty excited at the thought of being stronger even if only a little bit. Leveling up felt pretty good. It felt _empowering_ , and not a moment too soon, because they felt that they would have fainted soon if it weren't for that. Secret increased their attacks with a new vigor and slightly more recklessly than before in their excitement. _Ha! Take_ that _, Monsters!_

Pretty quickly, however, they realized that they should have reined themselves in more. Their HP was going down again and it was only then that they realized that they had pushed ahead into the room. Where they were surrounded by Monsters. With a couple of Monsters slipping past them into the hallway. Where Ivy was. Who still needed more time to rest. _Oh, shit!_

Secret turned around to Tackle a Monster that was slipping into the hallway before feeling a Fury Attack on their back by a Beedrill illusion. The Beedrill got 3 hits in with the Fury Attack before Secret hit it with a Tackle and it disappeared. Secret quickly took stock of the situation. Two illusions had slipped by and were heading for Ivy. In the room itself there were four Pokemon left, a Beedrill, two Tengelas, and a Sandshrew. _Okay. We can do this._ I _can do this._

* * *

Ivy was taking her turn of a break when she saw that while fighting Secret seemed to gain a new vigor. Ivy smiled, knowing that Secret must have leveled up. _I'm going to level up again soon, myself._ She thought. Then, she noticed, Secret was fighting further in. She was about to yell at Secret to not go to far when she noticed something small and shiny fall out of Secret's mane and onto the floor. A coin. _Wait._ Ivy turned her head around and noticed that there was another coin further down the hallway where they had come from. _Have we been leaving a trail!?_

Ivy rapidly turned her head back to see that Secret had indeed gone to far and had pushed into the room. Two of the Monsters were able to get into the hallway from the opening that Secret had left. _My luck just keeps getting worse and worse..._ She stood up from where she was sitting and used Leer on the Monster in front of her. She then dodged an attack from it before hitting it with a Vine Whip, happily realizing that Secret's Helping Hands from her last fighting turns were still in effect, raising her attack. She was then able to easily dispatch the other Monster that had come her way, getting enough XP to raise her level.

Now that there were no monsters in the way, Ivy could clearly see Secret, and they didn't look to good. They seemed to have only just defeated the last Monster in the room before Ivy finished her's. Secret didn't look bad in the way they had been before when they were exhausted with low HP. Instead Secret looked kind of sick. Ivy watched as Secret swayed a bit, and collapsed.

Ivy rushed to Secret and took a closer look at them. They weren't dead, thank Arceus! They were unconscious, however.

Secret's complexion seemed to be paler and they were breathing heavily.

There was no doubt about it.

Secret had been poisoned.


	7. The Boss

Secret was poisoned. Ivy quickly looked around the room. No Pecha berry in sight, there were, however, some Oran berries. She ate an Oran berry to recover some of her strength and tried to get the unconscious Secret to eat some too. It was difficult to try to get the Oran berry down, partly because Ivy was avoiding the sharp teeth of the Eevee, but she manged to get a little down. She, then, started to paw through their mane, pulling out all the coins she could find. Ivy knew they couldn't stay here long or the trail that Secret had unknowingly left would lead the duo Rick and Don right to them. While pawing through, Ivy realized that Secret had taken way more coins than she had thought. _Of course, what should I expect?_

Now that Ivy had cleared away the coins, she lightly shook Secret. "Secret? Secret! _Secret!_ " Ivy stopped when she noticed that she had been shaking Secret harder than she had meant to, but, all the while, it did nothing. _Okay, so Secret might be out of it for awhile. We still have to get a move on though._ Ivy then tried to pick Secret up and carry them herself. She stumbled and nearly fell over. _Okay... So Secret was heavier than I thought._

Ivy made for the stairs, veering slightly to the right before correcting herself... Okay, so now she was veering towards the left. And now the right... _I haven't even made it towards the stairs yet! Arc! How much do you_ eat _Secret!_ Ivy then climbed up the stairs with as much grace as she had walking towards them. Once and awhile leaning back a bit to far and almost falling, swinging her vines rapidly to regain balance. Ivy briefly wondered what Secret would have said about this if they weren't unconscious. _They would probably have a field day._

The next floor was different than the previous floors. Rather than being mostly empty, save for Monsters and some loot here or there, like the other floors, this room's floor was covered with large rocks and was _filled_ with loot. It was also filled with other Pokemon. Ivy quickly hid behind a rock next to the stairwell and listen quietly. No sounds of alarm, just quiet chating.

"What do you suppose the boss is up too, pulling all of us up here?" Asked a cheery voice.

"Don't know, Steve. Maybe he has a special announcement?" Replied an extremely gruff voice.

"Oh! Do you think he was finally able to make an alliance with the Silver Claw?" Asked another voice, unmistakably female.

"Doubt it, Christine. We would be mooks to powerful guys like those."

"I bet he's recruiting someone!" Chimed in a forth, slightly dorky sounding, voice.

"Maybe he is Boofhead, maybe he is."

"Shale, can you _please_ stop calling me 'Boofhead'! It's Arin! _Arin_!"

"No Boofhead. You know what you done. You made the mistake, face the consequences."

"Shale?" Interrupted the voice called 'Christine', "Do you think that what Mike is doing is a bad idea?"

"Yes. We would be mooks. Would get ourselves killed in an instant. Bad idea. I keep telling Mike that, but he won't listen."

"Do you have anyway to _make_ him listen? Honestly, he's almost getting scary with how desperately he wants an alliance with them."

"You know Mike. Only a legendary could stop him if he's convinced something is a good idea."

"Yeah... when do you think Don and Rick will get up here? there're the only one's left."

"Remember? They were on the bottom floor. Mike should be getting them now."

"Hey, everyone. I'm back~" called a sing-songy voice from the stairs. Ivy startled and almost dropped Secret. She had lost herself paying attention to the conversation between the henchmen. She scooted back, maneuvering in a position that hide her both from the sight of the stairs and from the group that was just talking. It was a tight spot and she wasn't entirely sure it completely hide her. From the stairs walked up a Mightyena.

"Unfortunately," The Mightyena said "I couldn't seem to find Rick and Don. I'll tell them later, though, so don't worry~" The Mightyena's tail happily swished from side to side. Clearly he was ecstatic. "The news is that we have a new recruit, a Mareep named Jeremy is going to be joining us in a couple of days. Also! I have a plan that will _totally_ get Silver Claw to like me, and by extension, _us!_ I can't tell you all the details right now, but know that this will happen~ I will _make_ this happen." On that last line the Mightyena's demeanor changed. His smile dropped. His tail went rigid. His before warm eyes became cold. "All of you? Out. Announcement over. Go back to your stations."

As the group of four walk down the stairs Ivy could hear them grumbling. Christine, who Ivy could now see, was a Starly and was talking to a Delcatty in a trench coat, continuing to complain about Mike's obsession with the Silver Claw. Ivy had no idea who the Delcatty was suppose to be until they replied back with the incredibly gruff voice of Shale assuring the Starly there was nothing to be done about it. The other two there were a Zigzaggon wearing a red ribbon around its neck that was silently listening and nodding to a Bidoof with horribly puffy fur that was complaining about being called Boofhead.

The Mightyena, named Mike, stood there and waited as the others left. After several minutes had passed he got up and stook his head down the stairwell. "Okay, you can come up now~" The Mightyena changed back to how he was when he first walked up. Tail wagging even faster than before.

"Okay!" That voice sent a chill down Ivy's spine. That was Julia's voice. Ivy could feel dread coiling within her stomach, whatever was going on, this certainly wasn't right. "Mister Mike, where's the candy?" The sweet voice of Julia asked.

"Hang on, I'll go get it for you~ Just wait right here."

"Okay!"

 _I do_ not _like the sound of this! What a time to be on your own... Dammit, Secret! Why did you have to rush in like that!_ Ivy felt frustrated, even if she grabbed Julia and made a run for it she would have no cover and even if she could successfully run off with Julia she had Secret to worry about as well because _someone_ had to push into that Monster House without thinking ahead. _Now I have two children to worry about._

"Here's your candy, sweetheart~"

"Thanks, mister! Can I go home now?"

"Well... since I gave you candy i'd like you to do something for me."

"Oh? And what's that mister?"

"Are you familiar with Silver Claw?"

"Yea! Mom says that they're real bad people!"

"Well I'm afraid to say your mum is misinformed. Silver Claw is far better than their reputation makes them out to be."

Mike waited for a moment for a reply, it took a moment before Julia said anything. "What do you want, mister...?"

"I think you should join Silver Claw! They _love_ kids! They will take good care of you there and help train you so you can become big and strong!"

"No! What about my mom? I want my mom!"

"Your mum, I'm sure, is a sweet lady, but can she take care of you? Does she have enough money or food to take care of you? Listen, times are hard. Your mum is probably having a harder time than she's showing you. Silver Claw has a _vast_ numbers of resources! They can easily take care of you! Just think about it, you get a home with many pokemon your own age to make friends with and you won't have to worry about food anymore and that helps to take the burden off your dear mum who has one less mouth to provide for~"

" ** _NO! I WANT MY MOM!_** " Julia screeched while making a move for the stairs before being blocked by Mike.

"Well dear, I'm afraid you don't _get_ a choice!"

" _ **LET ME THROUGH! LET ME THROUGH, MEANIE!**_ " Julia continued to wail, tears streaking down her cheeks as she pummeled her little arms into Mike as he blocked the way out. " _ **I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT TO GO HOME!**_ "

" _ **CALM THE FUCK DOWN, YOU LITTLE SHIT, BEFORE I MAKE YOU REGRET IT!**_ "

Mike threat didn't work, however, as Julia continued to bawl even more loudly. Crying at a frequency that only Stoutlands should be able to hear at. Mike let out a deep growl. His face was going red and his eyes glared so deeply that they were almost slits. He raised his paw and raked his claws Julia's face, throwing her across the room and drawing blood. Julia was crying more quietly now, her eyes absolutely filled with tears. On her left cheek there were 3 deep red scratches on her face from the attack that were beginning to bleed.

Mike walked over to her and leaned down right up to her face, casting his shadow over her. He looked much calmer than he did just a second ago "Maybe, that will teach you a lessen, brat. If you defy me again I'll use Fire Fang on you, and we both don't want that, now do we?" He stared at her for a beat. " _Now do_ _we_?" he repeated louder "well?"

"No...no." Julia stiffenly shakes her head no, shivering slightly.

"Good."

Ivy had been so focused on the seen, shivering with rage, that she didn't see them. It seems that nobody saw them. Not Ivy, not Mike, not Julia, and certainly not Secret. It was only when she heard the sound of a pebble skidding across the floor that she thought to look back at the stairwell. There were two pokemon standing there, having just climbed up the stairs. A Zorua and a Squirtle, both looking on at the scene with extremely wide scared eyes.

"Boss...?" Rick said quietly, almost a whisper. "What the fuck?"


	8. Escape from the Dungeon

Mike starred in shook at Rick the Zorua. He was silent for a moment, before getting up and turning towards Rick and Don. "Ah, you too. Where have you been? I was looking for you earlier but you weren't at your post."

Rick narrowed his eyes at his boss. "Dat don't matter right now. What matters is wha' _you're_ doin' right now."

"Me? Just keeping an eye on a child... Also, starting to secure a way to get in with the Silver Claw."

"Is _dat_ what you're doing with dat kid! You're going to sell 'em to Silver Claw!"

"I wouldn't call it selling... just... _relocating_. Anyway, calm _down_ Rick! This isn't your business. You have no need to worry yourself with this~"

"I have _every_ reason ta be worried 'bout dis! I knew dat you wanted an alliance with Silver Claw but I didn't know you willing to go to _dis_ length! I thought you said when I joined dat we wouldn't become like dis! Dat we were just going to keep mostly to ourselves and have a bit 'o territory. What about dat! We don't need Silver Claw!"

"I'm afraid your wrong. We _do_. Silver Claw is becoming bigger and bigger and if we don't do anything we'll be left behind in the dust! I have no doubt that Silver Fang will eventually take over the whole continent, and when it does _you'll_ want to be on their side, just like me~"

"No. I don't think I would want to, Mike."

Just then a little 'peep' could be heard around the room, interrupting Rick and Mike's conversation. Ivy looked down with fright at Secret, who had made the sound, they were waking up at the worst possible time! She quickly clamped down Secret's mouth to prevent any more noise but the damage was already done. Ivy looked up again and saw that Rick was looking right at her through the corner of his eye. She was caught. Ivy started to calculate an escape plan when, Rick turned his eye back at Mike.

"Mike, was dat duh Hoppip girl?"

"I don't think so..." Mike turned his head around towards Ivy's direction. "It might have been, but-"

"No, that was me." Don said, causing Mike and Rick's attention to snap back towards him. "I'm just... really worried for the little girl. Sorry if I interrupted your conversation."

"Ah, of course it was you Don! What else can I expect from the team pet~"

"I'm not a pet..." Don mumbled, but Mike ignored him and moved on.

"I still don't know why you left your position, though."

"Don and I were escorting two pokemon who wondered in here looking for a little girl. We got them to leave. I thought dey were lying, but _now_ , I'm not so sure."

"I see... I see." Mike glared at Rick "They left, huh? They _left_. _Sure_."

"They did."

"Right." Mike got up started to walk towards the rock Ivy was hiding behind. "They _sure_ did leave, didn't they?"

Secret felt awful. They were dizzy and light headed. They also had no idea where they were or what was clamping down on their snout. One minute they were fighting a bunch of monsters, feeling really tired and getting stung by a giant bee with freaking drills for hands, and the next they were _here_. _Where ever this is..._

* * *

Secret tried to focus, to get an idea of what was going on. What could they see? A wall. A grey wall with the same bio-luminescent fungus as the rest of the dungeon and something green. Whatever was covering their mouth was green but it was too close to get a proper focus on what it was. What could they feel? It was cold and something was grabbing them from behind, clamping down on their mouth. What could they hear? Walking. Something walking in their, and whatever was holding them's direction. They could also hear, and feel that whatever was holding them was clutching them tighter and were starting to breath faster. _What is going on?_

Another thought came too mind. What could they smell? If they were an Eevee, that means they should be able to smell things better, right? So, Secret took a sniff. They were surprised to realize that they recognized the smell of Ivy. It was Ivy who was holding them. Secret relaxed it bit realizing that but grew nervous about whatever it was that was making Ivy nervous. There probably had been many Pokemon in this room and Secret wasn't sure how many were still in it. Two of the smells besides Ivy smelled a little familiar but Secret couldn't quite pin them down.

"Hey! Don't walk away while I'm talking ta ya!" the yell sent a flash of pain through Secret's mind. _Why do they have to be so loud? Having a headache is bad but that yelling doesn't help._

"I can perfectly do whatever I want, I'm your boss. Unless... you want to challenge that, Rick?" _Rick... that name is familiar... wasn't he that guy who- No. Wait. Rick. We meet him earlier in the dungeon. That Zorua guy._

"Well...I don't want to fight ya, but what I think you're doing to dat little girl is wrong. Mike, even if you _do_ sell her that isn't going to win the respect of Silver Claw."

" _One_ little girl? You're right about that, but this is only the start! It'll take maybe 10, maybe _20_! I don't care! I'll make it into that group and I'll be respected."

"I don't have the words to begin telling you how messed up dat is."

"Well if you don't like my business practices, feel free to leave. As long as you live here and work for me you'll do as I say, and I say **Attack whoever that spying shit is behind that rock!** " Secret's head was spinning. _Curses, why do I have to have such large ears._

"inoor moyses melease" Secret was trying to say 'Indoor voices please' but had forgotten that Ivy was clamping their mouth shut. They felt Ivy let go of them and felt the rush of air behind them as Ivy leaped away. Secret hit the floor, feeling a wave of dizziness hit them like a tsunami. Their head also pounded like a set of drums would during a rock concert. _Ow... WHY... WHY. My head..._

Secret slowly got up and turned their head to look behind them. _What is going on? Why is everyone yelling? I want to go to sleep. I'm hungry. Why does my head have to hurt. None of this would have happened if I could've just stayed home._ Secret could see that Ivy, Rick, and the Squirtle guy were confronting a Mightyena. There was a bunch of yelling but Secret couldn't bother themselves to listen to it all. Secret was about ready to try to take a nap when they spotted something pink in the corner of their eye. _Hey.. a Hoppip._ Secret turned her head back for that na- _HEY, WAIT! A HOPPIP!_ Secret quickly turned their head back to look. _Is that Julia?_

Julia was to the left of the ridiculously loud conflict. _Oh my god! Her face! Ouch!_ Secret briefly wondered if Julia always had those scratches before noticing that they were bleeding. _Man. What happened to her?_ Secret saw that Julia was slowly crawling around the fight towards the stairs. _I might not be able to fight right now. There are other things I can do though._

* * *

Ivy leaped away from Secret. She lamented their covering being blown by Secret's attempt to talk. _Mike seemed on to us anyway though._ She found herself on the other side of the rock, staring down Mike. Mike looked surprised for a quick moment before glaring down at Ivy.

"Oh, so now you're willing to come out by yourself!" he growled.  
"I suppose."

"You _suppose_!? I don't like strangers in my place, and you saw something you shouldn't have, so, either join our group, Black Fang, or I'm going to beat you senseless." Ivy wondered whether she could take the Mightyena on in a one-on-one fight. There was noway she was going to join 'Black Fang' but she wasn't sure if she could fight him or not. _Doubtless, he can easily fight the Monsters here, otherwise, he wouldn't have set up shop. How much stronger than the other monsters is he, though?_

"I'm giving you only 10 more seconds to answer me or there are going to be consequences!"

 _I suppose I could try to_ pretend _to join and take him down later._

"10, 9, 8"

 _No, what about Julia? I need to get her out of here_ now _._

"7, 6, 5"

 _I suppose I could agree only for a moment and attack him as soon as his back is turned._

"4, 3, 2"

 _but I don't really want to do that._

"1!"

 _He really deserves to get his ass whopped._ Ivy shot forward using Tackle, at Mike and hit him square in the chest. He took a step back, a gasp coming from his mouth. He growled and his teeth seemed to catch on fire before he snapped his jaws at her. She leaned back and he missed but only by a tiny bit. She could see the flames and feel their heat an inch from her face. _So he has Fire Fang, that's not good for me._

Ivy leaped back, almost stumbling, and used Vine Whip to slap him in the face. _Looks like I'm stuck using Vine Whip if I want to stay far away from him._ He charged at her, his mouth, now, seemed to be covered in frost. Ivy could already feel the cold air coming off of it. _Ice Fang too?_ She ran towards him as well and dived underneath him and felt pain and cold at the end of her tail. She used her Vine Whip to quickly push him up. She was trying to throw him up into the air but he was too heavy and she only manged too push up his hindquarters. Mike fell over onto the front of his body, the surprise causing him too let go of her tail and leaving his belly exposed. She got in 2 Vine Whips on his belly while he was down and 1 while he was getting up.

He jumped at her, and she tried to jump forward underneath him again to dodge but he seemed prepared for her this time and landed right on top of her, pinning her onto the ground. His teeth were glowing slightly with what Ivy assumed was either Bite or Crunch. He leaned his head back before shooting it forward towards her neck. A Water Gun hit his face, throwing him off course where he bit only empty air. Mike's head shot in the direction from where the Water Gun came from.

It was Don the Squirtle, who looked terrified at the attention he was being given. "S-Sorry, Mike! This thing you're doing is wrong, though, so please stop!"

"I should have known that an idiot like you would do that!" Mike yelled, letting go of Ivy to run towards Don. Mike's teeth glowed again but this time there were little sparks shooting off of them. Don had not been prepared for a fight and hadn't moved to dodge causing him to be hit full force from Mike who knocked him down and bit him with a Thunder Fang. Ivy clenched her teeth and hissed inwardly, a critical hit on a super effective move, that has _got_ to hurt.

Don was yelping and Ivy was hitting Mike's head with Vine Whips, trying to make Mike let go of Don, however, Mike held on strong, repeatedly using Thunder Fang on the helpless Squirtle. Rick, who had been watching the fighting with wide eyes, now ran at Mike and started clawing at Mike's eyes until Mike let go of Don. "You too?" Mike growled, stepping back from the Zorua. "Is _everybody_ going to turn on me?!"

"If dey know 'bout wha you've done, dey would. I'm going to tell dem. I can't willing stay here, workin' for ya after knowing what you were planning for dat kid!" Rick said, before using Leer on Mike.

"We'll see about that Rick, I don't intend the others finding out."

"Because ya know dat dey'll turn deir backs on you!"

"Some might. I just want to avoid any further complications." Mike fired up another Thunder Fang and bit Rick square on the shoulder. Rick sucked in air and seemed to be holding in a scream. Rick started using using Fury Swipe on Mike, mostly hitting his chest. Ivy Tackled Mike's side and Mike's grip on Rick was loosened enough for Rick to pull away.

Ivy and Rick stood next to each other staring down Mike. Don was not far away from them still laying on his back on the ground. _Is he unconscious?_ Ivy wondered. Don, then, slowly started to get up, it was clear he was heavily injured. Mike looked around at all three of them then threw his head back in a life.

"Is this seriously my opposition? You guys don't stand a chance against me! Come on, why don't we all calm down and talk threw this nicely?"

"Not a chance." Rick said before jumping and, once again, using Fury Swipes on the Mightyena. Mike bit down on Rick using Crunch and throwing Rick at Ivy, knocking her down.

"Is _that_ your best shot? Are you even trying? Hah! Hey Julia, look upon your saviors!" Mike turned his head to where he had left Julia. She wasn't there. He turned his around rapidly, twisting his head around to look in all directions. " _Where is she?_ " He snapped his head towards where Ivy and Rick were sprawled. " _Where did you put her?_ "

Rick got up and turned his head around, realizing that Julia was, indeed, missing. "Where _did_ she go?"

"Do not play dumb with me!"

"I can play dumb all I want." Rick said, indignantly. "I'm telling de truth, dough. I don't know where da kid is."

"Am I going to have to _beat_ an answer out of you?"

"Well you're gonna have to beat me anyway to get away with dis."

While the two were talking Ivy took the liberty of using her vines to slowly move Don closer to the exit. She left him at the top of the stair and motioned for him to leave, mouthing _go get help_. The Squirtle looked confused then shook his head. Don used Withdraw then Water Gun at Mike. Ivy shook her head wondering if he even understood what she was trying to say or if he was just determined.

Mike, predictably, pounced on Don and used Thunder Fang. This time, Ivy was pretty sure he was out for the punch. Mike didn't look as good as he did in the beginning of the battle either, Ivy noted. _Perhaps we can chip away at his HP until he's down_. However, she and Rick weren't in the best state either.

Rick used Pursuit when Mike jumped away to attack Don and then used Fury Swipes. Rick leaped away from Mike and used his Leer. Ivy also used Leer, as well, hoping that perhaps they could lower Mike's defense to make him easier to defeat. Mike glared at them.

"This battle is going far too long for my taste. Once again I'll ask where the girl is and if you give me an answer than we can avoid the trouble of fighting."

"I already too ya, _I don't know!_ "

"Fine then! Be that way!" Mike grabbed Rick in his jaws, used Crunch and threw him hard at the wall. Ivy winced at that _crunch_ sound that Rick's body made when it hit the surface. Mike turned his sharp gaze at Ivy "Now it's your turn."

Ivy dodged back just fast enough to avoid being grabbed by Mike's fangs. She wrapped her vines around Mike's mouth and quickly looked around the room. _There!_ She used as much strength as she could muster to swing Mike as hard as she could into the rock that she and Secret had been hiding behind.

Mike let out a heavy grunt when he collided and pulled his muzzle out of her vines and took a few steps back. Ivy knew a quick moment of terror before she realized that Secret was no longer behind the rock. _Maybe it isn't a coincidence that Julia is missing._ Ivy smiled.

"Who are you smiling at?!" Mike roared. He grabbed her vines which had not yet retracted and used Fire Fang. Even if the vines weren't part of her main body it still hurt a lot. She tried to yank her vines out of his mouth but he held strong. He then swung her, using her vines, into the wall and then let go. She was able to slowly retract her vines. She tried to get up, and found some difficulty, she was exhausted, and didn't feel like she had much more fight in her. Mike looked worse for ware, sure, but he looked like he would still be fine. As he slowly walked up to her, grinning with a devilish gloating grin a call raised up from the stairs.

"Mike? Rick? Don? Intruder #2? I'm going to have to ask you to stop." Ivy saw that it was the Delcatty with the long coat from earlier.

"Shale? What are you doing here? I'm taking care of _very_ important business."

"Well Rick, you see, I met a small brown Intruder just a minute ago with a _very_ interesting story and very little kid."

"What?"

"Rick, they told me about what was going on up here."

"They told me too." said Christine, who had just flown up the staircase. "This _isn't_ okay, Mike."

Mike was silent.

"Mike, you have to explain yourself."

Mike growled.

The two of them slowly started to walk towards Mike who started to back away.

"Mike? Mike, can you ple- OH MY GOD, RICK!" Christine rushed to where Rick was laying prone on the floor. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Christine sucked in breath and looked frantically around the room. "Don?! Oh, Don! Not you too!"

Shale turned his head to look at Ivy "Intruder #2? You better leave. This is... personal business."

Ivy wondered who Intruder #1 was suppose to be but she was too tired to stay around any longer and just silently nodded her head at Shale and slowly walked away, past Christine, who was checking Don's injuries, past the room with the Monster House, past a Zigzagoon who gave her a small nod and a Bidoof who was glaring at a wall, past where she and Secret met Rick and Don, and finally to the entrance where a battered up Julia and Secret waited for her.

"That was a smart move Secret. I'm... not sure if I would have made it out of there if you didn't get any help. Are you... any better?"

"Yeah. The Zigzagoon gave me both an Oran berry _and_ a Pecha berry!"

Ivy sighed "That's good." She looked out at the horizon and saw that the sun was setting. "Looks like we spent all day in there."

"Yup! Now we gotta get Julia back to her mama! She's probably worried sick!"

"Yeah. Let's do that, Secret."


	9. Adventurers and travelers

**Author's Note: Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, been busy with school. This is Adventurers and Travelers, AKA, Meet the Town part 1. This chapter has a bunch of time skips, a character with an accent, and some exposition.**

* * *

Ivy laid on her back on her half of the hay bed, staring at the ceiling, reflecting on the events of the day. When she and Secret brought Julia back to her mother, Juliette thanked them over and over again while fussing on the scratches Julia had acquired. She was extremely happy that they were okay after they had disappeared for almost the whole day. Juliette wanted to give them a big dinner to thank them, Ivy was going to decline but Secret stopped her and full heartedly agreed to the promise of free food, and the two of them had sat down together with the family of five. Juliette introduced Secret to her husband Julian and their other two children Julie and Jill. Jill was the eldest of the siblings and was a Skiploom.

Ivy ate slowly, she felt a little bad, like she was taking advantage of the family's kindness, but Secret reassured her that "Juliette would feel terrible if she couldn't pay us back!" Ivy saw the point in that line of logic but she also knew that that definitely wasn't why Secret was scarfing down the food.

After eating Ivy offered to let Secret stay with her, at least for the night. So, she split her pile of hay in half and gave Secret a half. It was true that there were more comfortable things than straw, but this was what Ivy had. She was glad, though, she had enough so that they could both could have plenty of room.

Ivy was having a hard time getting to sleep. She kept replaying the part where she, Rick, and Don were fighting Mike. When Don get electrocuted, when Rick was thrown at the wall, when she was trying to fight Mike by herself, it all just kept replaying. They all made it out alive, or at least, she hoped they did. She didn't think that Rick or Don were dead, but she knew they had been hurt badly. She wondered what the group was going to do with Mike.

She was starting to finally drift off when she heard a soft growling near her. She turned her head and saw that Secret was the one growling. Secret was growling, slightly shaking, and was clawing at the hay near by their paws. They also started to mutter something. Ivy leaned in closer, trying to make out the words.

Secret eyes flashed open and Ivy flinched back. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked "You seemed to be having a nightmare."  
Secret looked at her, seeming to contemplate their words. "I'm okay." They said eventually "It was just a nightmare." Their eyes flicked to the side. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

* * *

{Time Skip}

* * *

It was the morning. Light streamed in through the window, waking up the two bodies below. Secret rubbed their eyes and yawned. They reached to their side, seeming to be trying to feel for something. They turned their head to where their hand was. _They look confused_ Ivy thought. "Secret are you looking for something?"

Secret turned and looked at her with wide eyes. "Um... no. I guess." They put their hand down and looked at the wall. "Hey... do you know what... the time is?"

"Well it's the morning, but if you want to know the specific time you can check the sun dial in town."

"Sun dial, right. Um-"

"Hey Secret?"

"Yes?"

"Are you still planning on leaving?"

"Right now? No. I should... probably start getting supplies for long trip ready, though."

"..."

"So, d-" Secret started

"What were- Oh, sorry you can go first."

"Uh, I was going to ask about breakfast."

"Right! Normally about this time I would go out a gather some food. I normally grab something on my way out then after gathering some stuff I sell some of my excess food at the market."

"So are we going to eat breakfast or not?" Secret returned to having their usual toothy grin.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "You can have something when you help me gather some food-"

"Oh, I'm not going to do that."

"What?"

"Gather food. I'll go find some sort of other job in town."

Ivy sighed "Okay, fine. Now I was going to ask you earlier what you were going to stay."

"About what?"

"What you were going to say before I interrupted you about whether you were leaving or not."

"Right. Um... I don't remember. It probably wasn't very important anyway. Let's go to town now!"

Ivy huffed. She felt like Secret was keeping something from her. She didn't feel like prying, though. "Okay, let's go to town. I should probably introduce you to some Pokemon."

"Sounds like a plan!"

* * *

{Time Skip}

* * *

Ivy brought Secret to the home of Moon Crest's mayor, Mr. Boiland, an elderly but kind Quagsire who used a walking stick and his care taker and town doctor, Ashley, who was a Glaceon. She knocked on the door and stood back and waited. It wasn't long before the door opened to the Glaceon.

"I'm sorry, but ,unless it is extremely important, town council stuff has to wait for the meeting tomorrow-" The Glaceon talked with a soft but stern voice.

"This has nothing to do with the council. I just want to introduce Secret here." Ashley only now seemed to notice the Eevee practically standing right in front of her.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry but the Ice Rock I used to evolve has melted away-"

"This has nothing to do with evolving!" Secret said rapidly.

"Oh? Than what is it?"

"Secret's new to the town and I want to introduce them to Mr. Boiland."

Ashley sternly looked over Secret with squinted eyes. "Hm... Where'd she come from?" She asked Ivy. Before she could respond Secret butted in.

" _They._ Anyway, it doesn't matter where I come from, I'm here now."

Ashley's eyes squinted further. "It matters _they_ ," Ashley said, with dripping sarcasm "Because you could be from a gang. Because you could be here to hurt Mr. Boiland. I can not allow that to happen."

Ivy jumped in, to interrupt the argument she could feel was brewing in the air. "Secret's okay, they don't mean any harm-"

"Well that might be what _you_ think, Ivy, but you know what _I_ think? I think I smell a Raticate. I'm not letting you in." Ashley was about to slam the door before a elderly sounding voice called out from a nearby room.

"Oh, Ashley? Is there someone at the door?"

Ashley cursed under her breath. "Nothing important Mr. Boiland, just two ladies!" She threw Secret a sideways glare at the last word. Secret looked about ready to use Tackle on Ashley before Mr. Boiland called out again.

"Oh, bring them here! I'd be glad to have some company!"

"They're not here to talk to-"

"We would be glad to talk to you Mr. Boiland!" Called Ivy

"Well come on over! I've been itching for some company!"

Ashley begrudgingly lead them over to a well furnished room with long, pretty, magenta curtains covering tall windows with a large circular magenta rug in the middle of the room to match. There were several dark wooden chairs at one side of the room, and behind a desk made of the same wood on the other side sat Mr. Boiland.

"A newcomer? Welcome, welcome to Moon Crest! I'm sure everyone will be excited to have a new neighbor!" Ashley hissed something quietly to Boiland which caused him to have a slightly confused look. "I don't see how that's a problem, Ashley." Ashley turned her head to glare at the wall.

"Well Boiland-" started Secret.

" _Mr._ Boiland." Ashley interrupted.

"Well Mr. Boiland, I don't know if I'm going to be staying here. I'll be here for now and I'm happy to be welcomed by you but I might have other places to be."

Boiland looked thoughtful before saying "Well I'm glad to see you hear, even if you're going to be leaving soon. Know you'll be welcomed back if you come back."

"That's nice to know." Secret smiled.

"Though, I must ask..."

"Hm?"

"Where are you from? And where are you going?"

"I have amnesia, sir."

"So you don't know where you're from?"

"No."

"Well what do you plan on doing? And like I already asked, where are you going?"

"I don't really know where I'm going. I'm just... going. I have my reasons. I don't really know what I'm going to do either."

"Hm... going huh? Perhaps you can become a traveler or an adventurer, since, you're interested in traveling."

"A traveler or an adventurer? Can you tell me more about that?"

"Yes, you see Moon Crest was once an adventurer town. Adventurers did many things but it all revolved around exploring into the unknown. Adventurers would create maps, including mapping the locations of Mystery Dungeons. Adventurers were also the Pokemon to go into those dungeons, either for themselves or for others. Adventurers were very important to the economy because of the money and items they brought into the market and the money and items Pokemon would spend on hiring adventurers. The drought has... made things hard to say the least. Being an Adventurer involves a lot of travel but the drought has made traveling very difficult. There are very few adventurers anymore and they almost all work independently. There used to be a large association called the Adventurers Association but it has collapsed. part of why there a so few adventurers is because there is less to reward them with for completing jobs. I'm afraid that there will one day be no adventurers left..."

Mr. Boiland paused, looking down before resuming his speech. "Moon Crest was an adventuring town, but like many others, with no adventurers our town isn't doing as well as it once had." Ivy noticed he has omitting how far the town had fallen. He, of course, didn't want to say that the town could very well fall into ruin if the drought kept up. "Professional travelers are a more recent trade and I'm afraid I don't know much about them besides that they are like adventurers minus the Mystery Dungeons. If you want to know more I recommend talking to Dale, he and I used to be an a team together." Boiland stared past them at the wall. "Ah, I miss the good old days..."

"Well I think that's enough, it's time for you two to leave." said Ashley.

"Leave?" said Secret.

"Unless you have anything else to say with Mr. Boiland."

"No, I'm fine" Secret looked at Ivy "I guess we can go meet that Dale guy?"

"Sure." Ivy said. _But I don't know how happy he will be to see us._ Dale was notorious for his grumpy attitude. _But I guess I'll introduce them anyway._

* * *

It wasn't a long walk from Mr. Boiland's home to Dale and Lily's but Secret's head was buzzing with thought. _An Adventurer? Me!?_ Secret was excited by the idea of it but also a little scared too. _A life like that would be ripe with danger._ It did seem far more interesting than other jobs though. _But is that... what I'm suppose to do? Become an adventurer?_ Secret thought it funny that in the event of deciding to avoid trouble they seemed to be falling forward into it. Then a thought hit them, what they did yesterday with Ivy, wasn't that the exact sort of thing adventurers did? _We accepted a job, went into a dungeon, rescued someone, and were payed for our troubles afterwards. We_ did _do the adventurer thing._

They looked at Ivy just as they were arriving at a house, which Secret assumed belonged to this Dale guy that Boiland mentioned. _I wonder if she'd be up for doing that sort of thing again?_ Secret was feeling pretty good about the idea of becoming an Adventurer. _Doing Adventurer jobs, at least, seems like a good idea, and if I'm doing Adventurer jobs than I pretty much_ am _an adventurer._ The memory of being knocked out hit Secret like a brick. There was no way they could do this alone. Their thoughts turned back to Ivy, they _didn't_ need to do this alone. _But I need to convince her._

In the time Secret had been thinking, Ivy had knocked on the door and now it had opened. There was an old grouchy looking Gallade standing there. He didn't look quite as old as Boiland but the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes said enough. One of his elbow blades was broken, presumably from a adventuring mishap, Secret assumed. He looked annoyed to be having visitors.

"Oi! Wha' do ya wont?" He asked with a scowl.

Ivy sighed. "This is Secret." She indicated toward Secret. "We were just talking to Mr. Boiland, and he was telling her about adventurers but they want to know more and Mr. Boiland recommended to come here."

"Also he said you could tell me about professional travelers."

"That too."

The Gallade seemed to regard them before shrugging and indicated for them to go inside. It was very homely inside with a large couch, coffee table, and fireplace. "Kay ohm goin' ta mayke this qwick." He began "Boilend likes ta romanticize owr tyme as adventururs. If yoe're plannin' on bein' an adventurur, ya got to have da guts fer it, let may tell you."

"Oh? Who's this?" asked an elderly Lilligant with a sweet voice. She was walking into the room from a hallway. The Lilligant had a large scar across a closed eye.

"Dey're visiturs, Lily." He turned to Secret. "Secret was it? Dis is ma partnur Lily."

"Hello! Pleased to meet you. I'd love to stay and chat a little but I got to keep my eyes, well _eye_ , on the oven." She giggled a little and turned back and walked back to where she came from.

"Yoe've never tested pure joy until yoe've tested one of 'er 'omemade cookies." Dale said, a warmth coming into his voice.

"I wanted to know more about this whole 'traveler' thing that Mr. Boiland mentioned."

"Right." Dale's happy demeanor vanished. "Travelurs er expects at gettin' from one place to anodder, which is a very highly sot afder skell in dese tymes. Travelurs ushelly escourt oddher Pokemon or delivur items or infermation fer pay. Many of dem 'ave ties ta gangs, which 'elps dem ta get around. Nute all travelurs er bad but in my experience most star. Enfact," he grumbled "Ah've onley evur meet two re'lly good travelurs, but dey're dead now."

"Uh... who?"

"Stone, Zoay, and Sulfer's parents. Ah guess ya can go and talk ta dem if you wont but ah don' sey much pwoint en it."

"Do you want to meet them, Secret?" Ivy asked.

"Uh, sure!"

"Bye Dale, we'll be going now." Dale nodded his head.

Before the two of them made it out the door Lily called to them. "Wait, have some cookies before you leave!" And so Secret happily munched on a couple cookies as they traveled to their next destination.

* * *

{Time Skip}

* * *

The house of Stone, Zoe, and Sulfur was smaller and simpler than Dale's or Boiland's. It looked a lot like Juliette's home but with less wood and more stone. The trio of siblings that lived there, two Litten twins and a Torracat, let them in. The Torracat introduced himself as Stone and introduced his younger siblings, Sulfur and Zoe.

"And what might you be doing here at our lovely home?" He asked

"I wanted to hear about your parents. Dale said that they were the only good travelers he had ever met. What made them good travelers? Secret asked.

"Oh." Stone was silent for a moment, starring slightly above their heads. "They were nice, but, they weren't home very often, always off doing their jobs. Dale was close friends with them while they were in town. They cared about their customers and worked hard to do the best they could. One day they left and they never came back, and we just had to accept that something happened to them."

"Maybe they just abandoned us." Sulfur, one of the two Litten twins said spitefully.

"No they didn't! Stop talking about them like that! They're super strong, so they would never die just like that! I bet they're still out there, they just ran into trouble, or something and can't get home." said Sulfur's sister, Zoe.

"They can't get home is right, 'cause they're dead!"

"No they're not! Liar!"

Stone had a pained expression on his face.

"Can you tell me... more about their job?" Secret asked feeling kind of awkward.

"Right. Whenever they got a job they would plan a course. They took factors like weather, distance, supplies, vegetation, and landscaping in mind, whenever they were mapping their course. They would get the necessary supplies ready, which might include an item or a Pokemon, and they just... go." Stone made a sweeping motion with his paw. "It would be weeks or even months before we would see them again. They liked to bring back souvenirs for us-"

"Dumb, tacky souvenirs." Sulfur butted in.

"They would often spend time with Dale, Lily, Gerald, Cashmere, Mr. Boiland, and some of the other older adults in town. They also spent a lot of time collecting supplies."

"In other words they didn't care about us!"

"Sulfur! They _did_ care about us. Their jobs just kept them **very** busy."

"Humpf."

"Well..." Zoe began "You can try to talk to them about that when they get back..."

"They. aren't. coming **. back!** " Sulfur yelled directly into Zoe face, and tears started to bubble up in her eyes.

Stone looked back frantically at the twins then turned to Secret and Ivy with an apologetic look on his face. "Can we... continue this conversation later? Just the three of us?"

Secret and Ivy nodded before being ushered out the door by Stone.

After the door closed Secret turned to Ivy. "They didn't go much of anywhere did it?"

"I was afraid it wouldn't... whenever their parents are brought up those two almost always start to fight."

"Well before we end up going on another goose chase, can _you_ tell me anymore about adventurers or travelers?"

"Not really, nothing that no one else has already told you."

"Pardon me?" asked an unknown voice near them.

Secret turned to see a Litwick with yellow wax and a blue flame. _Oh my god! It's a shiny Litwick! That's so cool!_ "Hi! Who are _you_?" Secret asked, feeling giddy about meeting a Shiny. Too giddy, in fact, to notice the unsure look on Ivy's face.

"Hello Secret. I'm Angelo."

"Hi Ange-" _Wait did he just say my name?_ "...lo..."

"I know you have come from a far place. Let us not talk here, but back at my establishment." Angelo then turned around and started to walk away, not even looking back to see if anybody was following them. Secret turned their head to look at Ivy trying to communicate _Should I follow him?_ with just their face.

"That's just how he is Secret. He always seems to know things without being told. He claims to be able to see into the future but I don't think he can really do that."

"So should I follow him?"

"Do you want too?"

Secret stared at the Litwick's back as he wandered farther away. _Can he really see the future? He knew my name, but then again, he could have just asked someone for my name, though I haven't been here very long..._ Secret decided that they would enter a conversation with him under curious skepticism. "Yeah, I think I want to hear what he has to say." Secret, then, started to follow Angelo. _I wonder if he knows..._

* * *

Ivy watched as Secret started to follow Angelo, contemplating whether she should join or not. She didn't like to leave Secret on their own while they were still new to the town. She wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to keep talking to Angelo, though. She weighed her options, then followed. Angelo had always been a little strange and always cryptic. She sometimes wondered if it was part of the act or if it was just how he was.

She remembered when she first came to town, in the earliest stage of the drought that had now been going on for 4 years. She had met Angelo when she was going around introducing herself to the neighbors. He had invited her in and said he would tell her her future. She had had no doubt then that he couldn't tell the future but it was hot and going inside seemed like a nice break from the heat before continuing in her task. They sat down and Angelo had a far away look in his eye, his flame flickered and he looked at her with clearer gaze.

"Something has started." He said, with the most worried look Ivy had ever seen him have, even up till now. "Triggered by an unbalance in the world. Ivy, find secret, you can help bring this world back into balance." She had been absolutely flabbergasted by what he said, it sounded like something straight out of a story. Ivy instantly came to the conclusion that this guy was a weird sham. Not even good at fooling someone at that. She also found in strange that he never put a 'the' in front of the word 'secret'. She had always thought it was a mistake, but now...

Ivy stared at Secret's back. When the drought started to get worse she chalked it up to she had found Secret and she wasn't entirely sure what to feel. She tried to brush it aside but it still lingered in her mind, making her feel uneasy. If his fortune were true it sounded like she would help save the world, but helping to save even an entire city, let alone the whole world, seemed mindbogglingly ridiculous. Something far too large for her to really have a hand in. She continued to have that uneasy feeling as she followed Secret to Angelo's home.

Angelo's home was just how she remembered it. It was a large enclosed cart on wheels painted gold with large purple letters on the side advertising "The Golden Angel with Future Sight!" The lettering was old and faded with flecks of paint chipping off. Although, there was more paint missing than the last time she had seen his cart.

The inside continued the color theme of gold and purple with purple curtains and cushions, and gold painted wood. Part of the cart had been cleared away for a small kitchen area. Across from the door was a large blackboard. She remembered when she first met him that, while he gave her a reading for free, the blackboard had pricing for different services written on it. Now there was just a neatly drawn calendar and a to do list written out of chalk.

Angelo invited them to sit down and he begin to speak. "My name is Angelo, as I have already told you. I can see the future. Secret, Ivy, you two are important, and you need to realize that."

"No, I'm not." said Secret.

"I'm afraid you are Secret, whether you like it or not."

"Look, can we make this quick? I want to show Secret around some more." Ivy said.

"I'm sorry I make you uncomfortable Ivy, but I'm just trying to tell you what I think you need to know."

"Look, um, whatever it is... I'm sure someone else... can do it." Secret mumbled.

Angelo paused a moment to look at them before he spoke. "Sure, someone else can do it but if everyone has that thought, nothing will be done. If someone has to do it, it might as well be you."

"Look, Angelo," Ivy began. "We really ought to be going."

"Very well. I will see you later. When you leave, though, go to the town's south entrance. There will be two visitors, meet them."

Secret and Ivy were quiet as they left Angelo's cart. Ivy lead Secret to the south entrance of the town. The south entrance was a dirt road that, as the name suggested, lead to the south. However, the closest town from that direction was very far away, the closest northern town was far closer. There used to be a large sign that greeted visitors, welcoming them to the town but the sign was heavily warn by the elements. After the sign was removed no one bothered to put up a new one, after all, hardly anyone was using that road anyway.

The silhouettes of two Pokemon were clearly visible in the distance. Ivy felt frustrated. She was hoping there would be no one there. While neither were close enough to make out much detail one was clearly much taller than the other. As they got closer Ivy could make out that one was a Riolu and the other, a Cyndaquil, and the the two of them seemed to be talking. The Riolu looked up and saw them and pointed at them excitedly to the other before putting on a full on sprint towards them. The Cyndaquil shook its head and kept at the moderate pace it was already at.

When the Riolu got to them it was huffing and puffing. "He-hi! I- huff, I'm Yumen! And that guy back there is Ross." Yumen pointed back at his companion. "I'm on a very important mission! So, I've got to know, does your town keep a newspaper?"

"Um, no." Ivy answered a bit hesitantly, not sure where this was going. "We used to, though."

"Oh, of _freaking_ course! Another town without a newspaper!"

"We have a newsletter."

"That's not the same! Luckily, I'm here, because I'm here to teach your town some journalism."


End file.
